U.S. unlocked Moto Z now up for pre-order for $699, shipping next week

The Moto Z was announced to the world back in June. A little over a month later, it (and the Moto Z Force) hit Verizon. Two more months after that, we now have the U.S. unlocked version available for anyone to buy, regardless of their carrier affiliation. The price is $699, roughly equivalent to the price in the UK, which for those following along at home is $75 more than the "Droid Edition" of the phone. And just as a reminder, there's no choice of getting a Moto Z Force unlocked — that huge-battery shatterproof model still remains exclusive to Verizon.

But if the idea of the svelte Moto Z with its MotoMod swappable components is appealing, and you want to use it on AT&T or T-Mobile (and their associated MVNOs), this is your choice.

As you'd expect you have the Moto Maker-style experience here, where you can choose to include some Mods during the shopping process. Moto has the battery backs for $60-90 each, the speaker for $80 and your choice of the projector or Hasselblad camera mod for $300 each. Interestingly, at the time of writing the simple $20-25 Style Shells are not available to order — though you get the "charcoal ash" wood Style Shell in the box with your order. If you add some Mods and your shopping cart starts tipping north of $1000, you may consider Moto's nice 0% financing options as well.

Though Moto is technically listing the unlocked Moto Z as a "pre-order," going through the ordering process we're seeing a delivery time for September 30, which is just a week away. Presumably if you load up your order with some extra Mods or wait a couple days you'll be dipping into early October. Waiting for nearly four months to get a Moto Z after it was unveiled is mighty frustrating, for sure, but if you've held out, now is your time to drop the cash and get the latest from Moto.